From:
"April Armstrong Campbell"
Date: 2005-05-18 16:36:07 UTC
Subject: RE: Albinos in the sun, cataracts in ferrets, and anyone have any insights yet for me for the possible EPI ferret (MY Bandit?)
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <000501c55bc7$b4705f50$6501a8c0@bigbox>
My Finnegan is an albino, and our DVM when he was a baby suggested baby
sunscreen; we use Avon's skin-so-soft for babies; it also has a bit of
mosquito repellant that vets I've spoken with (some on the FML) said was
okay to use. I highly recommend heartworm medication for ferrets, also.
Heartgard is not great for them b/c you can't get a small enough dose
(breaking the pills doesn't work b/c according to the manufacturer, the
medication is not evenly distributed throughout the chewable or tablets
forms); we use an ivermectin-propylene glycol mixture that is pretty
cheap and is good for two years (expires sooner if the ivermectin
expires sooner). It is an oral liquid medication that is easy to
syringe into their mouths.
"The cataracts won't be painful." My Holly had a cataract that just
developed one day at age 2.5, and my doctor said that at the time hers
wasn't painful, but that it can become that way, and if that happened
(she might act painful, rub/scratch at the eye area, etc.), there were
eye meds we could use to help. But he did say that they can become
painful, and he read up on them to doublecheck himself.
I am still looking for anyone with experience with ferrets with exocrine
pancreatic insufficiency; this may not be what Bandit has (he could have
pancreatitis, heart disease, a number of things), but I'm trying to find
as much info as possible, and am not having much luck with the ferret
version of this disease. (It's not very common.)
Thanks!
-April